The Time Ring

The Doctor found something unbelievable. It had been a while since he last saw something like that. His eyes were glistening in amazement.

“You. You are so beautiful!” The light it emitted was magical.

What the Doctor found in the room was a tree. It wasn’t normal, though. The branches were plunged deep into the ship and they were used as conductors of energy. It was glowing every time the surge of energy would get through. The rots, however, were plunged into the hands and legs of a man. He looked to be around Jeremy’s age or maybe even younger. It was a beautiful sight yet at the same time, it was engrossed in pity.

The Doctor walked closer and touched one of the branches. It electrocuted him instantly. He sucked on his finger to make the pain go away, just like a child. Then he realized. The secret behind Neverland and the Peter Pan stories was itself a child.

On the other hand, Jeremy wasn’t doing very well. He was called around late noon on the deck. He sighed and pried to God that the screwdriver worked.

“Tonight, my friends, we’ll have a magic show!” The pirates were very excited. “We have a special guest with us” The old pirate stopped and turned to Jeremy. “What’s ya name boy?” The young human gulped.

“Jeremy” The pirate nodded and turned to his audience.

“Jeremy!” They clapped and cheered. It felt nice to have a whole audience waiting for you. The bad thing was the circumstance. It wasn’t positive at all.

Jeremy walked on the improvised stage and bowed. When the men got silent, he became nervous.

“Alright. Well” He looked around, for his sister at least. No one was there. “I’m going to make this-“
He looked for something easy to mess with. He found a rum bottle. “this bottle talk. Yes, I can do that”

Against what the Doctor believed, Jeremy had a few interesting talents. One of them was ventriloquism. He could use his own neck and vocal chords to impress them. Of course, if that worked.

“So, tell me bottle. Are you happy?” He was lame. He knew that. The pirates turned their heads to the bottle.

“I’m a freaking bottle. What do you think dumbass?” It was silence. He didn’t open his mouth nor move his lips. The audience was silent. He didn’t know how to interpret it. He tried his luck. “What are you staring at, prats?” He could already picture the way he would die. Fortunately, the pirates started to laugh and applaud. He sighed in relief.

“Show us the real thing, magician!” Captain Hook was hard to please. He reminded Jeremy of his boss. He hated his guts. He was a pompous jerk with too much money and no respect for the lower classes.

“Alright” He grabbed the screwdriver and placed the bottle on the floor. Afterwards, he covered it with his jacket. “I will make the bottle disappear and make something else appear” The pirates were very interested how that was going to end. He was too.

“What’s that?” Well, they were watching him very closely, weren’t they.

“It’s my magic wand” The screwdriver looked nothing like a wand. “Anyway. Itsi bitsi miney mo. Change this bottle into a soul”

At the same time, Mousy was falling through the tunnel. It felt infinite.

When Jeremy finished his lame intro, he actually hoped he could lie about that part. Souls weren’t objects or persons. He could lie and say he could see souls. That made sense into his head.
Fortunately, when he uncovered the bottle, there was an actual person.

They stared in astonishment at each other and blinked confusedly. They were dumbstruck. The pirates cheered and clapped enthusiastically.

“With that, the show tonight is over. See you next time!” Captain walked towards the young man and patted him harshly on the back.

“Good job, boy. Prepare for tomorrow! I wanna see you play with fire” Mousy raised an eyebrow and stared blankly at her brother.

“Play with fire. Incredible! You, who are afraid of fire, have to play with it. Interesting, isn’t it?”

That was a whole package of problems. He knew he could make something and impress the pirates because he was a pyromaniac. But, if he were to do that, his sister would find out the truth. He didn’t know what was worse: dying by Hook’s hands or getting that disappointed look from Mousy.

“How did you get here?” She scoffed.

“That Peter Pan kid is a brat. He needs to be more responsible. He gets the lost boys into danger with his stupidity” Jeremy watched his sister with a bored look.

“Have you read Peter Pan before? Because it certainly doesn’t seem so” She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest,

“Says the boy who plays with fire” He rolled his eyes and plopped onto the bed. Granted to his amazing magic skills, they actually got a good room. “You should transform me into a bottle tomorrow” Jeremy laughed sarcastically and threw the closest thing he found at her. That was the screwdriver.

It was weird because it landed perfectly in her arms. Her eyes widened and she sighed heavily. She dropped the box in that hall. It was so unfortunate. She wanted to see what the Doctor found down there.

“Have you seen the Doctor?” Mousy shook her head.

“No. I lost him and found the treasure room” Jeremy’s eyes widened in excitement. “No” She already knew what he was thinking about.

“Why not? We can take a few presents. It’s Christmas!” She didn’t say anything more. She only bit her lip and stared blankly at him. “You’re no fun”

“Says the boy who talks to bottles” Jeremy blushed faintly. She didn’t witness that moment but the pirates took care to share that with her. They were thinking she was that bottle.

“I can’t do this! How can people stay and do nothing?!” Jeremy ignored her completely. “Let’s go back into the dungeons. There’s something going on. Something with real magic”

That was how they ended up sneaking around the ship. Unfortunately, while everyone was busy sleeping or partying, Peter and the lost boys were still on the deck. She found them in a controversial state. Curly was completely red while the twins were fighting on a bottle of rum. The rest of them were tipsy.

“Neverland is for party animals, isn’t it?” Mousy glanced at her brother and scoffed. He was an idiot. He didn’t see it that way. He liked Neverland. A lot, actually. He was on good terms with the pirates. That was amazing.

Mousy took the bottle from the twins and pushed it over the deck.

“You should leave, Peter. Take the boys and leave” He shook his head.

“Nooo. I like it here” He was swaying from side to side and could barely keep his eyes open. She sighed. There was no way she could take them back. She couldn’t fly.

“Fine” She glanced over her shoulder, just in case someone was sober enough to remark the boys. No one. She sighed. “Come on, Jerr. Help me hide them into a corner”

That took a while. They were children but they were heavy. In the end, they all fell asleep. Mousy led Jeremy to the same corner she lost the Doctor into. She already missed the right hall so she knew exactly where to go. Thankfully, Jeremy followed her closely and didn’t get lost.

“Where exactly are we? It’s too big to fit into the ship” Jeremy was right. That were walking for ten minutes and they have already been through three tunnels. It was an incredibly large place and it looked like it was under the water.

“I think Neverland is more than Peter Pan and Captain Hook” Jeremy hummed and touched the wall. It felt very thin. “Maybe we should have split up” Mousy rubbed her chin and pondered that idea.

However, Jeremy was a good detective. He had an eye for weird things. He found the spirals in the wall before and he did it again. He found mold. He touched it slightly but it emitted sparks. He backed off quickly and stared amazed at his fingers. He wanted to tell her about it but he decided to keep it for himself. He could use an independent case, as well.

They walked for a little more time until they came across a door. Mousy was ready to open it when Jeremy stopped her. He was worried about something and didn’t want to place her in danger.
“I think we should go back” She frowned. That wasn’t something Jeremy would say.

“Give me a good reason why we shouldn’t enter this room” His eyes moved down, to the portion left open under the door. It was glowing faintly. She could feel in his body. He had to keep Mousy away from that place. No, he had to keep the time ring away.

The Doctor knew exactly why. Once he entered that room, he realized why visiting Neverland was actually a bad idea. Captain Hook, the Lost Boys and Peter Pan were nothing but modified memories of a lonely child. The person inside the tree was the builder of that world. The planet was left to float in the Universe aimlessly. But how come it was so beautiful and had life forms on it? That was indeed a good question. He didn’t have all the answers, yet.
He was inspecting the body when the eyes opened. He only touched the belly when he felt a sudden urge to look up. Those eyes were magnificent. They were completely made out of green energy. They didn’t even have orbs.

“Uh, hello there!” He took a few steps back and waved. He didn’t feel threatened. At least, not yet.
“You are the creator of this world, aren’t you? Such amazing details. How long did it take until it became like this? A century? Maybe two?” The eyes stared at the Doctor blankly.

“You are a Time Lord” The kid’s lips didn’t move but he did talk. He was using telepathy. His eyes moved towards the door. The Doctor was confused. “The Time Ring” The Doctor’s eyes widened. He glanced between the kid in a tree and the door.

“Yes. I am a Time Lord. I am the Doctor. I don’t mean any harm” The kid didn’t even look at him. His eyes were fixed on the door. “The Time Ring doesn’t mean any harm, either. We’re here out of pure curiosity”

“I’ve been here for longer than you lived, Doctor” The time lord raised an eyebrow. He quite
couldn’t believe that. He had lived for a long time already. But then again, he knew of Neverland when he was a kid. “Time and space are insignificant in front of imagination. You cannot destroy nor touch it. It is unbreakable and everlasting”

“Is that how you lived for so long?” The kid nodded. “You created it. You are the core of this whole
planet. You look tired” Those amazing eyes blinked.

“Those who have seen Neverland have seen the greatest joy of all” The Doctor smiled widely.

“That’s childhood, isn’t it? What’s better than being a child?” The boy stared intensely at the Doctor. He didn’t know how the real Neverland looked like.

“I’ve been protecting this planet for as long as I can remember. I was a child with problems. I was born mute and deaf. I was unwanted and so, I had been given away. I could only live off pity. You don’t know how that feels, but he does” The Doctor frowned. A light bulb enlightened over his head. He knew something was weird when Mousy got lost once they arrived. She could have found them fast but she didn’t. She got lead by something else.

“You’re Peter Pan” It finally made sense. Who knew Neverland better than Peter Pan? Who could create it with refined details and skills if not Peter himself? “You control everything through these branches but not the characters. This place has taken a lot of sights in time, hasn’t it? It didn’t look the same twice”

“The imagination of a child is the most powerful weapon in the Universe. No matter the specie, a child remains a child” It stopped for a second and seemed like it just sighed heavily.

“But you’re not a child anymore, are you? That’s why you need someone to take your place” His eyes widened. “No. I got it now. You need a child who can never grow up, for real. That’s why you lure species into your web. To find someone like that. Your legacy”

“I sent signals every time my story was told. No one understood it. No one but Jeremy” The Doctor blinked quickly.

“Wait, what? You mean Mousy” The kid shook his head. The branches moved slightly. “But she is the time ring. She can’t grow up at all”

“Excuse me?” The Doctor turned towards the door. He gulped. He didn’t expect her so early. He thought Jeremy was going to keep her busy for a while.

“What are you doing here?” She scoffed and walked in. Jeremy was fidgeting behind her. Of course, until he saw the kid in the tree. That was not something he would see every day. The kid’s eyes moved on him instantly. They were staring at him with such intensity that he felt like fainting.

“That’s the least of your problems! What do you mean ‘she is the time ring’? I have the time ring. I’m not it!” The Doctor didn’t really know how to bypass the subject. She heard him loud and clear.

“You heard wrong. I was in the middle of a conversation, here!” He couldn’t play stupid. She wasn’t stupid. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and scowled. He had a lot of guts to try and twist her mind.

“Um” Jeremy could feel his legs trembling. The one in danger or in front a promiscuous situation was usually Mousy. He was not prepared for the attention. “Hello?” The eyes blinked. He took a step back and suddenly felt an electric sensation in his legs. He gulped and turned to his sister.
“Hey guys. I think I have a problem!” He couldn’t move. Mousy was furious. She turned to her younger brother and gasped. Her frowned disappeared instantly and she ran to him. Once she touched him, she got thrown away.

“That hurt” The Doctor turned to the kid.

“Wait! You can’t use Jeremy! He doesn’t have the imagination you want! Take Mousy instead!” She scoffed. However, Mousy was more protected than her brother. He had nothing. “Wait” He had the screwdriver. “Jeremy! Use the wand!” Jeremy looked at the Doctor with the most offended look he could master. The Doctor shook his head and swayed his hand around.

“Oh. Right” He could still move his hands; well, one of them. He grabbed the screwdriver from the back of his pants and pointed it at his legs. Surprisingly, the force stopped and he could run to his sister.

“You should not interfere. The boy has been chosen as my legacy”

“What?” Both Cavington’ yelled at the same time. That was news. “But he has no connection with this planet or aliens in general!” The eyes glared at Mousy. She shut instantly and slightly bowed her head. She was intimidated by his gaze.

“He had been chosen long time ago. Do you remember, Jeremy? You talked to me before. You talked to Peter Pan” The time travelers turned to the younger member. They were waiting for some explanation. Jeremy blinked and rubbed his forehead. His eyes widened when he remembered.

“But it was only a dream!” Mousy looked taken aback by the whole situation. She had never heard about that dream before. “It was the first semester of school. IF you remember, auntie sent me to a boarding school. I knew no one and I got bullied a lot because I wasn’t talking. One night, the other boys locked me in the bathroom. The one in the back of the garden. I fell asleep and I dreamt this boy around my age that opened the door for me and helped me out. He told me that I shouldn’t cry and shouldn’t act like a girl. He encouraged me to follow my instinct. I woke up in the middle of the forest and never understood how I got there” Mousy glanced worriedly at the Doctor. He nodded. They knew something was wrong with that story.

“Your instincts led you to me” Jeremy looked troubled. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“You’re wrong. My instincts are messed up” He glanced at his sister and took a deep breath. “I was the one who burned down the house. I got in trouble because I like to play with fire. I love it” Mousy frowned. She was bombarded with a lot of information. The kid stared blankly at Jeremy. “I’m not the same kid I was back then. I grew up and became a boring adult. I don’t have a creative imagination”

“You” The kid started. “You don’t see your true potential. You are still living in the shadow of your sister. You deserve much more, Jeremy” Those words were very significant for him. No one ever told him that before. No one ever trusted him so much before. He wasn’t only a star in the world. He was something valuable for that kid; for Peter Pan.

“I feel overwhelmed” He chuckled and loosened his tie. “I really feel amazing right now. I’ve never been seen like an important human being before” Mousy flinched. “Thank you for believing in me and in my imagination. But, I’m not a child anymore. I have my own dreams and none have anything to do with Neverland or Peter Pan. I love your story but I want to create my own, not continue yours. I’m sorry”

For the first time in her life, Mousy could see Jeremy exactly as he was. And what he was? HE was her younger and adorable brother. He wasn’t the one who could get compliments from their family nor the one with great prestige. He was Jeremy. Amanda’s younger brother, Jeremy. Nothing more and nothing less. He was her family.

The Doctor smiled softly when he realized how much Mousy and Jeremy’s relationship grew. They were finally able to speak out their minds and say exactly what they felt and thought. That was the main reason why Mousy was always going back to her aunt. That was also the reason why she was able to live without getting involved with aliens. The reason was Jeremy all along. He represented her human part. He was keeping her human.

The kid stared at the two siblings with nothing but coldness. He moved his attention on the Doctor and glared at him.

“You shouldn’t have brought both of them here” The Doctor frowned. “I don’t have much time, Doctor. If I die, Neverland will come with me” Suddenly, the walls in the halls started to break. Through the cracks, the water started to get in. “This planet will go down with me. If Peter Pan dies, then everything will”

The Doctor turned to Mousy and Jeremy.

“We have to get back to the TARDIS. Right now” Mousy furrowed her eyebrows together. “He’s going to destroy everything. We need to leave now” The Doctor grabbed her arm and Jeremy’s and started to run back on the deck.

“But what about the others?” He didn’t even glance at her. But he did respond.

“They are not real! We are the only ones in danger here!” The ship started to sway crazily. Jeremy almost lost his balance and felt back into the hall. The Doctor pulled him closer and they walked up the stairs.

“Wait!” Since the halls were getting flooded, she noticed something near a corner. It was the box she had first seen. It was floating around. She ran there and grabbed it quickly. The water almost pushed her back but Jeremy caught her and pulled her into his arms. It was dangerous. She didn’t know how to swim.

Once they got on the deck, they realized no one was there anymore. The pirates were gone, the
children were gone and the ship itself was disintegrating.

“What now? How do we get on land?” The Doctor turned to her.

“How did you get here?” She shrugged. “You didn’t just fly here, right?” She blinked innocently.

“Peter did it, actually” The Doctor stared at her hard. He couldn’t believe that so easily. She was big and heavy. Peter was nothing but a child. “He did it. I swear. It took 15 minutes but he carried me here”

“Can we get back to the real problem? How do we get back on land?” The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Mousy before he turned to Jeremy. He went towards the railing and looked for a boat. Nothing was there. He had to think about something; fast.

“Um, I think the water is getting red” Jeremy and the Doctor turned in synch to the only woman. She pointed to the ocean. They scrunched their eyes in order to see far. The Doctor’s eyes widened when he realized what was happening to the planet.

“It’s changing back” He could feel both his heart thumping incredibly fast. He was scared. He had no choice but use the ship as a whole. He glanced to the helm and smirked.